from the build-it-and-maybe-they-will-come dept.
Volocopter completes crewed eVTOL test flight out of Rome vertiport:
German electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) startup Volocopter conducted its first crewed public test flight in Italy Thursday morning. The flight launched from a vertiport built at Rome's Fiumicino Airport, Italy's first advanced air mobility (AAM) testing vertiport, during a two-day event meant to demonstrate what a service between the airport and the city of Rome would look like.
The Aeroporti di Roma is working toward launching commercial operations between the airport and Rome by 2024, so the reveal of the vertiport as a functional station for eVTOL takeoff and landing is a milestone in Italy's AAM industry.
The five-minute test flight was less about taking on passengers (which it didn't) and more about showing off the two-seater VoloCity air taxi to relevant stakeholders.
[...] Italy's aim for its first vertiport is to set an example for designing and building international vertiports. During the vertiport demo, Volocopter also displayed its branded VoloIQ digital platform, which the startup says supports everything from booking to managing flight operations, and will help support the scaling up of AAM in cities around the world.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2022, @06:28PM
Joby test flight - 150 miles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RpqYuce6Ao [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2022, @07:24PM (1 child)
It says it is a two-seater, so I presume the pilot is in one of those seats. Are there really enough single fliers that will pay quite a premium to take this flight to/fro the airport? I wonder what the business plan is, what the cost per flight is, or given that how many flights do they need to cover their expenses. I wonder if this is subsidized for the present.
(Score: 2) by OrugTor on Tuesday October 11 2022, @04:48PM
It won't need a pilot. Joby (e.g.) can fly their eVTOL remotely. The obstacles to pilotless taxis will be political not technological just as for other transportation modes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 10 2022, @10:55PM
What are they afraid of?